It came to me first of all, quite suddenly, as a sort
of legendary tale, suggested by my recollection of
having once, in early childhood, seen a linen-weaver
with a bag on his back; but, as my mind dwelt on the
subject, I became inclined to a more realistic
treatment. Falsely accused, cut off from his past, Silas
the weaver is reduced to a spider-like existence,
endlessly weaving his web and hoarding his gold.
Meanwhile, Godfrey Cass, son of the squire, contracts a
secret marriage. While the village celebrates Christmas
and New Year, two apparently inexplicable events occur:
Silas loses his gold and finds a child on his hearth.
The imaginative control George Eliot displays as her
narrative gradually reveals causes and connections has
rarely been surpassed. Silas Marner (1861) is the
shortest and most immediately accessible of Eliot's
novels. She takes the materials of legend and fairy tale
and provides them with a historically precise setting,
drawing on some of the most advanced ideas of her day in
order to represent states of mind and belief at the
limits of rational perception.This edition, which is
based on the carefully corrected text George Eliot
prepared a few months after the first edition, is
accompanied by an introduction which illuminates the
intellectual context of what has often been presented as
a nostalgic, sentimental tale. ABOUT THE SERIES: For
over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made
available the widest range of literature from around the
globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's
commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate
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expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful
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further study, and much more. |
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